ABSTRACT
For centuries, militaries have sought to boost soldiers and increase their resilience. Psychopharmacology was the primary means of performance enhancement throughout most of history, until in the 21st century biotechnology began to reveal new opportunities. Recently, the most promising developments for human augmentation have come from neuroscience and neurotechnology (neuroS/T). Research on their real-world applications for creating supersoldiers has boomed over the past two decades, propelled largely by the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency. The chapter analyses the prospects for neuroenhancements by exploring such forms as: (1) brain imagining for identifying certain human traits and skills; (2) brain stimulation to improve faculties, model emotions and shape behaviours; (3) brain-computer interfaces for operating military systems, multiplying human computational powers, and granting new types of perception; and (4) brain-brain interfaces for speechless communication. Advances in neuroS/T for specific defence and national security applications, mostly in the United States, are examined within the framework of the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop concept. Neuroenhancements can keep humans in/on the decision-act loop by enabling their effective cooperation with increasingly autonomous, intelligent and accelerating machine systems. Thus, the future of military enhancement rests on the synergistic relationship between increasingly converging neuroS/T and artificial intelligence.
